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A Story and a Recipe

I heard on the weather report tonight that we would have rain every day this week. That report brought to mind another spring when we had rain almost every day. I was coaching softball for the Dragons and we were having a very hard time getting our games in before the season ended. We had to play when it was sprinkling, and in some cases, when it was pouring. We finally got to the point that we had to play unless the conditions were dangerous for the players.

On one particular day we were playing the Calais Blue Devils at the DiCenzo Field. That spring, workers had put up new light poles and lights on the third base side of the field. The girls and the boys traveled on the same bus and Rollie Call, our bus driver preferred to watch the boys’ game down by the high school. The girls, therefore, were left to their own devices and they had planned to walk from the DiCenzo Field across the parking lot and have a lunch at the Golden Arches while we waited for the bus.

The girls shared the load of the equipment, duffle bags and books and we began the walk. All was going quite well until we neared one of the new light poles. The earth had been moved around and the workers had put fill around the pole. What I did not know was that under the fill the rain had washed out the soil underneath the top layer. When I stepped on that spot, one of my legs disappeared.

The girls in the front kept on walking, but the girls who were near me saw what happened and thought I was joking around. I was screaming for my life. All I could think of was quick sand. I was sure I was going to disappear into the earth. Those Dragons close to me had the look of a deer caught in the headlights. They dropped their loads and tried to haul me out of the hole. I am sure a video of this would have been hilarious, but all of us were too scared to laugh.

How many teams want to go home and report, “The game went OK, but we lost Miss J. in a hole.” Finally they stopped my descent and with much help from the girls in the lead, rolled me out of the mud. I was wet and covered with a thick layer of mud. With the help of the girls, I slogged across the parking lot, North Street and to the Golden Arches, where I was not allowed to enter.

Rollie finally showed up with the boys and the bus and they all had a great laugh. By now, with immediate danger at bay, the girls had to laugh too. Rollie would not let me sit on the bus; I had to stand on the steps by the door. By the time I arrived at the Dragon dome, the mud had begun to dry and my clothes were as stiff as a board.

This day went down in Dragon history as “The day the team saved the coach.”

After that day, we all needed a warm, comforting meal for supper. The ideal dish would have been a Squash-Carrot Casserole.